Preparing for exams can be overwhelming, especially when time is limited. Whether you have a full day or just half a day before your test, these strategies can help you maximize your study sessions and improve your confidence.

1. Collaborate and Clarify

Before the exam, take time to discuss the topics with your classmates. Talking through the material helps reinforce your understanding and allows you to address major issues or misconceptions. Group discussions can highlight areas you may have overlooked.

2. Plan When You Lack Motivation

On days when you’re not in the mood to study, focus on planning. Outline the tasks you need to complete, gather the necessary materials, or do some light research. Even simple steps like organizing your notes or finding helpful resources can keep you productive without requiring intense focus.

3. Overcome Procrastination

If there’s a task you know you need to start but keep putting off, spend time researching it online. Immersing yourself in information related to the task—just as you might do when learning about credit cards or vinyl players—can spark the motivation you need to begin.

4. Boost Confidence Through Mastery

A great way to build self-confidence in a subject is to thoroughly study even the small, tricky topics that often undermine your understanding. For example, if you’re struggling with concepts like the Kalman filter, dedicate time to mastering them.

5. Reading Is Not Enough — Practice Is Key

One of the biggest mistakes students make is thinking that reading the textbook is enough. It’s not. You can only truly claim you’re ready for an exam when you’ve solved a significant number of examples—both with and without solutions.

Personally, I prefer working with solutions because they help me learn the right approach faster. I often find myself quickly peeking at the solutions, but I try to use them as a guide rather than a crutch. Solving examples forces you to apply the concepts actively, which is the most effective way to solidify your understanding and prepare for the types of problems you’ll face on the exam.

6. Set Yourself Up for Success

  • Wake up early and start your day with a coffee to get energized.
  • Use helpful tools like Anki for language learning or memorization.
  • Repetition is key—for topics that need to be ingrained in your memory, repeat them dozens of times, just like when memorizing phrases for TOEFL.

7. Effective Study Habits

  • Review topics multiple times. One read-through isn’t enough; revisit each subject at least twice.
  • Take comprehensive class notes. Writing notes in class not only helps you focus but also gives you reliable material to study from later. Even if you miss a class or fail to take notes once, don’t abandon note-taking altogether.
  • Borrow notes if needed. In classes where few people take notes (like a nonlinear systems course), seek out those who do and review their materials.
  • Find and solve past exam questions. If your classmates mention recurring topics or sample questions (like R.W.L.S.), take them seriously—even if they weren’t covered in class—and search online for explanations and solutions.

8. Strategic Exam Planning

When exam prep time starts (especially during reading periods), collect all your materials—class notes, PDFs of textbooks, and printouts. Then, map out your study schedule:

  • Divide your available days based on the difficulty and breadth of each subject.
  • For example, if you have seven days before a nonlinear systems exam and only one day for a multivariable calculus exam, average your time so each subject gets around four days of study.

9. Focus Techniques for Class and Study Sessions

  • In class, focus more on the board and the visual elements rather than solely listening to the professor. Try to follow along by writing out formulas yourself, similar to how you would when studying alone.
  • While studying, listen to calming music to help maintain focus, but avoid anything too distracting.

10. From Ideas to Action

For any task you’ve been postponing, start by creating a list of suggestions or steps you could take to complete it. Once the list is complete, plan out a weekly schedule to tackle the project in manageable chunks.

Final Thoughts

Studying effectively isn’t just about reading textbooks or notes—it’s about actively engaging with the material, solving as many problems as possible, and learning from both your mistakes and the solutions. Only when you’ve tackled a wide range of examples can you confidently say you’re ready for the exam. By following these techniques, you’ll approach exams with a deeper understanding and greater confidence.